


I have seven ships upon the sea (and all are laden to the brim)

by pineovercoat



Series: Master Riku (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Consume the Darkness, Return it to Light) [3]
Category: Kingdom Hearts, Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies)
Genre: Afterlife, Canonical Character Death, Friendship, Gen, Kingdom Hearts III Spoilers, Missing Scene, Parallels, soriku if you squint!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-10 06:33:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19901350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pineovercoat/pseuds/pineovercoat
Summary: Darkness prevails, light expires, and Riku makes an unlikely friend in the wrong afterlife.





	I have seven ships upon the sea (and all are laden to the brim)

**Author's Note:**

> if you live long enough you see the same eyes in different people  
>  ~~if you die twice enough you see the-~~
> 
> playing a bit fast and loose with both canons, but that's the fun of it. takes place roughly between the repeated cutscenes of riku's sacrifice in the keyblade graveyard. 
> 
> ALSO- left a particular character tag out because even tho I’m as obvious as the nose on my own face maybe it could still be a surprise?? but if you’d rather it not be, it's at the top of the end notes for you.

Death was the calmest sea Riku had ever known. 

The sunniest, most peaceful day on the Destiny Islands couldn’t hold a candle to the hush around him, the blanket of dusk that sat heavy over the world. Even the full moon nights back home, the ones without a cloud in the sky, when the wind was as soft as a mother’s kiss as it wound through the palms- even those paled. The water could have been silvered glass, so clear and smooth that it was impossible to tell where it ended and where the sky began- if not for him. His boat was the only crack in the illusion, the only thing that marked an ‘ _above_ ’ and a ‘ _below_ ’, with Riku himself wedged firmly in between, on a weathered and well-loved rowboat under the full glory of the night sky. 

Why here, of all places? What was this world? Not the Destiny Islands- he would know home anywhere, even after all this time, the same way he’d known the dinghy under him. It was a feeling, like muscle memory, and that feeling wasn’t here. 

The last thing he could remember was brilliant light, and then pure darkness, and then- this. There was no land in sight. There was nothing, really- just the sky, the water, and him. The echoes of what he’d once said rang in his ears- _if this is what the world really is, just this, then maybe_ -

He was alone this time. And under the circumstances, that was for the best. More than the Realm of Darkness, this felt like a point of no return.

The prow of his boat split the mirrored stars, sending them to either side of him, scattering like dandelion seeds. Riku watched them for a while, skimming the surface with his fingertips. It was a beautiful sight, even broken by his touch, but he supposed it wouldn’t do to stare at it forever. He sat back, leaving his hand hanging over the edge. 

When he was younger, he’d always hated that feeling. If he had so much as a pinky out of the covers, vulnerable to the darkness in his room and under his bed, he couldn’t sleep. And the water- that was even worse. No better way to learn that you’d never know what lurked just under the surface than growing up by the edge of the sea. But even as a kid, he’d had a bad habit of lying to himself about not being afraid and how that was the same thing as being brave.

But there was nothing to fear from the water or the dark now. Not anymore. There was no unknown that could compare to what was ahead. It should have been scary, but he wasn’t afraid. He couldn’t be. This was about as close as he’d ever get to touching the stars. Would that be the end? It wouldn’t be a bad one. He’d already had worse.

Taking point from the water, Riku reflected. He’d started his journey with nothing more than some lashed-together wood, a mast, and some sails. Ending it here- it was the way that fate probably always intended. Even if he hadn’t _drowned,_ technically, he was taken by a tide. Dumb kid on a raft; it was long overdue. If Sora survived- and Sora _would_ survive- Riku couldn’t say he regretted it.

The minutes passed. It was a strange thing to realize that he had no heartbeat to count them by, but eventually even that fell to the wayside. His boat drifted on, gently urged by the unseen current, and soon enough, the sound of lapping water took up the place of his pulse. 

There were other boats joining him now, their passengers overtaking him and going on into the night. He caught glimpses of them in his periphery- peaceful faces in swaying lantern light. All sorts sailed past him, some with more haste than others, but he didn’t share their urgency. The sky above, a looking glass below, and him in between. If the time until oblivion came was an eternity or a moment, it didn’t matter. Not when he was surrounded by something so vast and breathtaking. He had all the time he needed. It wasn’t so bad, fading away. Not if it was like this. Sooner or later, the sky would turn to light, and then it would be off to a new adventure-

Somewhere behind him, a woman took up a song. He turned an ear toward it, taking in each word like a deep breath. 

“ _Then take from me a parting kiss, this point about thine arm I’ll tie. And when thou lookst upon thy wrist, then think upon thy Margery-”_

It was a pretty song, even if it was sad. He tried to hum along, but the tune slipped past him just the same as the water slipping through his fingers. That was alright, though. He was content to be held by it even if he couldn’t really touch it himself. Clear and pure and powerful, endlessly flowing...

Dark blue. That was what it reminded him of- the same dark blue that enveloped him, suspending him somewhere between the earth and the sky. He settled deep in his seat, resolved to commit that blue to memory. Restful quiet. Not that that was the goal, but maybe he’d finally earned at least this little piece of it.

“You won’t find anything familiar up there.”

Leave it to a talker to ruin it.

The voice was coming from somewhere to his right. Warm and dry as sand, and faintly prickly, too, as though its owner was both amused and annoyed to be informing him of something so obvious. 

“I’ve tried,” it said, clipped, a little mocking. “Couldn’t recognize a single star...”

Riku flicked his fingers through the water like he was swatting at a fly. So the stars weren’t the same- he’d been to enough worlds to know that didn’t matter. 

Putting it from his mind, he reached out with his free hand, seeking out the crude carvings of a child. They were exactly where he expected to find them. His lips curled as he picked out the letters he’d put down years ago, when he’d been so excited to finally be trusted with the responsibility of his own boat. He traced them back to front- _D- N- I- W- H-_

“Curious,” that voice went on, undeterred, speaking over the fading strains of song and Riku’s pointed silence. “How our hearts are always leading us to the strangest of tides.”

Hearts-? That was a little on the nose. He dropped his hand with a smack. “...Sorry?” 

“All evidence to the contrary.”

Interest and irritation warred within him, and finally, Riku rose, searching for the man that belonged to the voice.

He was in a boat not ten feet away. If Riku had to guess, he’d say he was some kind of sailor. An officer, maybe. Not anyone from their old pirate stories, that was for sure. He didn’t look scoundrel enough, dressed like he was in blue and gold. 

His face was handsome and proud. It was solemn, too, stern and heavy-browed, but there was an odd warmth around his eyes. In the faint light thrown by his lantern his skin was pale- a stark contrast to the dark hair tied back in a tail at his nape. Straight backed, stolid, he would have painted the picture of dignity, were it not for the tiny boat he commanded and what looked to be a white wig swaying proudly from the bow of his boat like he was flying colors.

Whatever it was that Riku had been expecting, it wasn’t this.

“I haven’t seen a single soul looking anywhere other than ahead,” the man remarked, when it became clear that Riku wasn’t planning on speaking anytime soon. “What _is_ it that you’re looking for up there?”

Taken aback, Riku searched for words. What was it that kept his eyes so fixed on the sky?

“The… the sunrise, I guess,” he muttered, faintly embarrassed. It sounded so childish, nothing at all like the sweeping idea that kept him putting one foot in front of the other, even when it all seemed hopeless. 

The man lifted a brow. “I might direct you east _._ ” He cut a look at Riku’s person that managed to be approving and a condemnation all at once. “I’m surprised a navy man could forget.”

Frowning, Riku picked at his clothes. What did he mean by _navy_ -?

Blue, white, and gold, he realized with a start, and lifted his arms to stare at the stripes of yellow sitting proudly on his shoulders. Though simple in comparison, they weren’t too far off from his companion’s.... 

Riku’s eyes slid back to him, led by the lines of his lapels to his waist, where proud gold was marred by a slash of harsh, striking red. His eyes snagged on the tear in his otherwise immaculate dress, and the stain that bloomed from it, right below his heart.

“You-” He swallowed roughly, pitching forward. “You’re _bleeding_ -”

He glanced down, following Riku’s gaze. “Ah. That. Well, I was. It hardly matters now, does it?” He pressed a hand to his vest, flat, as though he was smoothing it free of wrinkles. His palm came up dry, and the stain was unchanged. “Or have you forgotten where we are?”

For the moment, he had. “What…” Riku tore his stare away from the wound, cold to the core, and met his eyes. “What happened?” 

“A disagreement.” His mouth twisted, as did his voice, darkly amused. “I like to think of it as the wax that sealed my pardon. Or,” he snorted, “a medal for distinguished service. The highest honor I ever earned, and not one any _Lord_ could ever grant me.”

Half the words he was saying didn’t make any sense, but really, Riku figured he understood well enough without them. “I’m sorry,” he murmured. “Or… congratulations?”

That earned him a laugh, long and low. “The second, I think. And you? How did you buy your way here?”

“Buy. _.._?” 

“The ferryman is rather strict on the toll.” He pursed his lips, indicating the constellation of dancing lantern lights spread out in front of them with a sweep of his hand. “It’s a fine view, but life- that’s a steep price to pay.”

He sure had some sense of humor. Not like he was wrong, though. He’d given his life for this. Well, no, that wasn’t exactly right. He definitely wasn’t thinking about what it would mean for him when he stepped out to face the Demon Tide.

Riku trailed his fingers through the water, pensive. He could tell his story. World order probably didn’t mean much- not when all the ears around him were far past hearing or caring. But he didn’t think bringing up heartless monsters and ancient prophecies was a bright idea, even in this strange twilight before death, and anyway, there were some things he wanted to keep for himself. 

“Sorry,” he decided. “I don’t think I could explain it if I tried.”

The officer looked intrigued. “I have some personal experience with the unexplainable,” he said. “If that falls short, I think you’ll find my imagination more than sufficient.”

Riku leaned back, letting his head come to rest against the stern. He raised his arm to the sky, wondering if he could still summon Braveheart. Had it been consumed too, torn to shreds by the Heartless? Was it even possible to summon a keyblade if he was dead? If he passed on _here_ \- would he ever see any of his friends again? After they lived long and full lives in a world restored- would he be able to greet them?

“Okay,” he said, shrugging. “How about... I don’t really want to talk about it?”

“Ah. Honesty. I suppose it is a virtue. I’ll have to learn to be content with disappointment.”

Riku heaved a sigh, loud enough that he was sure the sailor heard it. 

A smile pulled the corners of his lips. “Such cheer,” he drawled. “It’s only a question. You’d think you were off to the gallows.” 

Riku snorted. “If it’s all the same to you...” There was laughter inside of him, gathering like a storm, threatening to shatter his hard-won melancholy.

“A mysterious passing. A fixation on the sky. One does wonder.” 

Riku waved a hand. “One will continue to.”

To Riku’s surprise, he laughed and let it go. Some minutes passed in comfortable silence, the strains of verse accompanying them rapidly fading as their singer went deeper into the night. 

“‘ _The Gordian knot which ties us thus'_ ,” the officer echoed, sounding thoughtful as he rapped his fingers against the hull. “Quite the riddle. I once knew a man who was in possession of the most curious compass. It never seemed to point north.” 

A wind was beginning to pick up. Riku raked his hair away from his eyes. “Maybe north isn’t the same for everyone.”

“Indeed.”

_“For time and tide for none will stay, once more farewell_ -”

“...tell me,” he said, suddenly somber. His eyes roved over the boats as they glided past, their serene faced passengers pressing silently onward, carrying their light away with them. “Did you fear death?”

Riku frowned.

Given the time to think about it, who wouldn’t? He didn’t know stepping out there and taking up his place between Sora and the darkness would mean his death. It was the likeliest outcome, if he was being realistic- but they’d been prepared to fight something even greater than a bunch of Heartless. It didn’t matter regardless. Sora needed him. And the other Guardians and the worlds… they needed Sora. The choice was the easiest one he’d ever made. 

“Maybe I would have,” Riku admitted, soft. He pulled his hand from the water, recalling with some difficulty the exact moment he’d been overtaken, the stunning brightness of the light as the darkness tore him apart. There wasn’t even a single mark left on him for it; it was almost as if it happened to someone else, and he’d witnessed it through their eyes. 

The fear had been there, sure. For a time. But it only served to feed the resolve, and the hope.

Riku watched as droplets of saltwater fell from his fingertips back into the water. They might have been inconsequential, for all the individual drops that formed the ocean, but the ripples they made on their return shook the stars. 

“But?” the other man prompted.

“But all I could think about was saving him,” Riku whispered. “Buying him as much time as I could. Nothing else mattered. I did what I had to.”

“Love and duty.” His hand moved to the tear in his vest. “Which one was it, I wonder?”

Riku chewed over that. Was there really a difference, for him? His own hand crept up to lay flat over his silent heart.

The officer smiled at him, rueful. “There are few men who have the great fortune to die for the things that make life worth living.”

“ _Fortune_ ,” Riku echoed, wry. “Sure.”

Was it ever fortunate, dying? It was strange to think about. If it all went to plan, the story would go on, and he wouldn’t be there to see how it played out. Who knew if that would matter to him, if it was even possible to think or feel or care once he put this last horizon behind him for good. But so long as their battle was won, he figured he could be okay with oblivion. And there was no way it could be lost, not with Sora fighting it.

“Most men don’t get the luxury of choosing the manner in which they leave this world,” his companion pointed out, oddly diplomatic. “Given the chance, would you do it any differently?”

There were plenty of things he wished he could do differently, but they were so far in the past… Standing between Sora and death, though? The last, most important choice? He’d choose it time and time again. 

“No,” Riku murmured. “I wouldn’t.”

“Nor would I.” 

Maybe there was more to this man than he thought. A disagreement, he’d said. The wax that sealed his pardon.

“Sir,” Riku began, for lack of anything else to call him. That was enough for Master Yen Sid, and this seemed to be a man who’d commanded a similar respect in life.

“Oh, I think we can dispense with formalities.” There was a hint of slyness to his voice. “There’ll be no need where I’m going, I hope. And you, _sir?_ You are?”

He laughed, wishing he could reach out to shake his hand. “Riku,” he said. “My name is Riku.”

It was a shame they’d both reached the end of their journeys, but at least their paths had crossed. Maybe if his mission with Mickey had brought him here sooner, they might have been friends. He opened his mouth to say as much, but found his attention drawn away by a thin line of green light splitting the ocean and sky. 

A sunrise in the west? That was all wrong. 

Riku turned back to the officer, a question already on his tongue, and found his face rapt, illuminated by the pale, watery light coming from the horizon. The fire in his lantern caught it, and danced in step with its flicker, growing in brilliance until it became its own sun on the water.

There were little suns cropping up everywhere now, all across his field of vision- everywhere but the dead space in front of his own boat. He didn’t have a lantern, he realized. He’d never had one. 

As if in response to the thought, his boat slowed, then stopped. He jerked in his seat, propelled forward by the force of it, and then, he was moving again, like a hook had caught hold of him, pulling him body and soul in the wrong direction. In the distance, behind him, maybe somewhere in the past, he swore he could hear a voice calling his name. If he turned his back on the false horizon and reached out to it, he knew he could take hold of it, clutch it the way it grabbed him- but all the people around him- the officer-

Riku could see the current’s pull around his boat, like ghostly fingers working away at the slack. It was just as strong around his own boat, warring with the force raking him against its flow.

“ _Hey!_ Wait!” Riku lurched to the edge, as far as he could go, his hands curling over the lip of the boat to steady his hold as the seas rocked under him, bellicose. “Who are you?” he called. “What’s your name?”

“James,” the man said, like he’d forgotten it. He didn’t seem too troubled by that; his voice was far away, his eyes and attention fixed on the impossible horizon. “My name is James Norrington.”

The light grew, spreading like spilled ink- first a blot, then full bloom all at once. Like the blood on James Norrington’s vest at the moment of his death, Riku thought. Like the spark thrown by his own keyblade that had become as bright as the flash of a shooting star.

“‘ _Given the chance_ ’,” Norrington said, shaking his head. He ripped his gaze away from the light to pin Riku with yet another strange look- apologetic, weary, and peaceful all at once. “I don’t think love or duty are quite done with you yet, Riku.”

He sucked in a breath.

There were drums now, not just the voice alone- _ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum_ -

No. He shook his head. Not drums. That was his _heart_. He fisted his hands, felt the pulse around his fingernails. His _heartbeat_ was back.

What miracle had Sora worked now? There were whispers in his ears, ones that sounded like the Destiny Islands on moonlit nights, like the scrape of wind over sun-ruined earth, like Sora and the others, calling for him, garbled by the cacophony of a water falling upwards- time, reversing around him-

A thousand little boats came and went- a thousand other tragedies passing every second. He could feel darkness licking like flames at his skin, but he could feel light, too. If he needed to, he knew he could call on Braveheart now- its power pricked at his palms, ready to break again if need be. His own name still rang in his ears- Sora was calling him. Sora needed him. 

He said he’d choose to die over and over again if it came down to it. Maybe the universe had been listening.

“Norrington!” he cried, knowing he didn’t have much more time. Love. Duty. Whatever Norrington’s answer had been, it looked like he was out of miracles.

He turned, expression mild.

“May your-” He nearly swallowed his tongue along with the words, ridiculous- but it felt right, somehow. Something told Riku that Norrington hadn’t been lying when he said he had experience with the unusual, that this man understood more than he let on. “May your heart be your guiding key!”

Even at a distance, Riku could see him furrowing his brow, like the sudden rift in death itself deserved only his most mild interest, and suddenly, he couldn’t help the grin that cracked its way across his face.

“I think I’ve had enough of hearts and keys for a lifetime.” Norrington inclined his head, returning his smile. “But thank you, Riku. Stay the course, and keep a weather eye on the horizon.” His mouth twisted around the words as he pointed a single finger to the sky. “Unless you’d like to try for somewhere up there next time, remember: _east_.”

“I will!” he promised, shouting to be heard over the howling wind, choking back laughter all the while. Good advice. Maybe this time around, he could try taking it.

Satisfied, Norrington lifted a hand in farewell, then sailed on, fading with the rest into the western dawn.

Collapsing into his seat, Riku drew in a shaky breath. Still half-laughing, he pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes, holding in the heat that threatened to spill over. One breath, then another. One moment of mourning, and only that, and then, he let go.

With nothing left to hold him, the current hurled him through his own wake, straight back through the stars he’d scattered. He saved one last, lingering look for that strange, green light in the distance. What sort of day was on the other side of it? For Norrington’s sake- for all of them, for the singing woman and every face and light he’d seen that had once belonged to a life- he hoped it was kind.

He’d find out. One day. But for now, a voice was calling, and it was one that _could_ stay time and tide for him.

Riku looked up, scrubbing at his eyes one last time, then put his back to the sun. He’d made his declarations. Time to follow through on them. The light of the past was calling.

He fixed his eyes on the east.

**Author's Note:**

> it's norrington. it's my man admiral james tater tot 'no ragrets' norrington--
> 
> norrington: have you ever been caught between two great loves- wait. maybe three. see there was elizabeth but there was also jack and the allure of piracy but i'm repressed and i don't wanna talk about it. also there was the navy- oh god i'm describing the navy as one of the wheels in my love life. hey have you ever been stabbed to death by an fishman. because i have. i died today.
> 
> riku: sir this is a mcdeathald's drive thru
> 
> song referenced in the title and throughout is speculated to be one of the lyrical predecessors to [ The Water is Wide](https://youtu.be/7EfHZtCKJGY) , and you can read it here: [[x]](https://ebba.english.ucsb.edu/ballad/31992/xml)  
> I thiiiiink next up in this 'riku and the bravehearts' series is either kovu or darkwing duck (I said what I said) so... yeah. see ya when I see ya!


End file.
